Ivan Toney appears a player at ease with his surroundings. The noise that accompanied his move to Saudi Arabia 18 months ago is now a distant echo.
Over the course of his one-and-a-half seasons in the kingdom, Toney has helped Al Ahli become kings of Asia and helped himself to a bucketful of goals in the process.
Thirty goals last term, 28 so far this. Twenty goals in as many Saudi Pro League games tell their own story; so too does a Golden Boot duel with Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I have goals I want to achieve here first, the club have signed me for a long period of time,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports this week.
"I want to repay them and bring trophies. In football and life, you never know what's around the corner. Who knows what the next step is?
"I'm comfortable here and like being here. I'm doing well, my numbers speak for themselves and I'm settled. I'm enjoying my football and don't see why I'd leave to go back to where I was."
Toney finished second only to Ronaldo in the 2024/25 Saudi Pro League scoring charts. The zenith of an incredible debut campaign came when he helped Al Ahli clinch the AFC Champions League, the first in the club’s history.
This season, he leads his Al Nassr rival by a single goal in the race for Saudi Arabia’s Golden Boot. It’s a position he is determined to hold on to.
“This season, I am hoping to take first spot and hopefully that will help the team and win games and get where we need to be,” he told The Guardian newspaper.
England prospects
Ahli are well placed in the title race, trailing Nassr by two points and league leaders Al Hilal by three. They face Hilal in the semi-finals of the King’s Cup on March 18. With qualification for the last 16 of the AFC Champions League long secured, the Jeddah club are also on course to defend their continental crown.
Yet comfort at club level does not guarantee clarity on the international stage. With a World Cup looming, Toney’s prolific club form poses a dilemma for England manager Thomas Tuchel.
Despite his achievements, Toney’s move is still met with scepticism at home. Having helped England reach the Euro 2024 final, he joined Ahli in a reported £40 million transfer from Premier League side Brentford.
Many believed it would harm his international prospects, and that has borne out. Tuchel praised Toney following a successful first season at Ahli, calling him up for last summer's friendlies against Andorra and Senegal.
"He deserves to be with us and I am convinced because he scored over 20 goals for his team this season," Tuchel said at the time.
"He won a major title with the Asian Champions League, he had a big contribution with goals and assists."
Toney made only a brief cameo in the Senegal game. He has not received a call-up since.
Reliance on Kane
England’s reliance on Harry Kane has rarely felt more pronounced. Even at Euro 2024, where Kane captained his country to the final, neither Toney nor Ollie Watkins were really tried or trusted when he laboured or got tired. A reliable back-up striker must surely come into Tuchel’s thinking ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
If we go purely by numbers, Toney leads the race. He averages a goal around every 83 minutes played in the league this season. A prolific January included seven goals in a three-game spell featuring two hat-tricks. Of his 20 goals, six have come from the penalty spot, with Toney enjoying a 100 per cent conversion rate from 12 yards so far this season. That clarity under pressure could be crucial if England hope to go deep at the tournament.
The next highest English goalscorers across the world’s top leagues are Leeds United’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, who have 10 goals from 25 and 37 matches respectively.
As a comparison, Kane has 26 Bundesliga goals from only 22 appearances, or one every 68 minutes in the German top flight. Kane’s 41 goals in 35 matches across competitions – including eight in as many Uefa Champions League matches – sees him top the race for the European Golden Shoe alongside Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.
Heat adaptation could boost Toney's cause
Toney, 29, has never played at a global finals. He is hopeful his exploits in the Saudi Pro League, as well as his acclimatisation to the extreme heat and humidity in the kingdom's warmer months, will count in his favour when Tuchel factors in the stifling conditions expected across North America this summer.
"It would mean a lot [to go to the World Cup]," Toney told Sky Sports.
"There are great players in the squad and some top English strikers, so I guess everyone will have an opportunity, as everyone will be able to adapt to the heat, but you can say I'm a bit more used to it than others. It's tough because you have to change your game slightly.
"You can't be running around crazy because otherwise you run out of steam. You have to be more strategic with the runs you make.
"I guess I won't have to adapt. I've played in 30-plus degrees here, and I feel like I'm adapted to it.
"All I can do is keep scoring goals. That gives me the best chance possible."
